Interviews by Melanie Ripley, Vice President of Membership, LeadingAge California
What’s the best thing about working in our field? We heard from members from communities in Southern California about what brought them to senior care and services and what they love most about what they do.
Jocelyn Alcantar, Director of Human Resources (8 years)
Wesley Palms, Front Porch
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? My love for helping others, no matter their age.
What do you love most about your job? Career development. I’m able to help my co-workers and learn from others. I also love helping other departments.
Len Vargas, Director of Dining Services (10 years)
Covenant Living at Mount Miguel
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? I’ve always loved to cook for my family. That’s why working in a retirement home makes me feel like I’m always at home.
What do you love most about your job? Making meals for residents and employees. Everyone is nice.
Isabel Payan, Housekeeping Supervisor (16 years)
Covenant Living at Mount Miguel
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? I have always supported our golden age family members with lots of love and kindness. I want to share my joy and learn about our families. My mother always set an inspiring example for me and demonstrated love for all others.
What do you love most about your job? I love interacting with my residents and sharing family photos and messaging about our Lord God. When they share their memories with me it’s special.
Ana Salas, Dining and Catering Manager
St. Paul’s Plaza
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? My mother and grandfather.
What do you love most about your job? Working with the residents and my team. I love working at St. Paul’s. It’s a great company that cares about the staff and residents.
Micaela Skinner, Center Director (3 years)
St. Paul’s PACE Nemeth
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? I started at St. Paul’s as a registered RN without any idea what I was getting into. I absolutely fell in love with the PACE organization and the population we serve. There is nothing more rewarding than the work I get to do to serve my community.
What do you love most about your job? I look forward to going to work each morning just as much as I did my first day three years ago. This organization truly cares about staff morale and encourages us to reach our full potential everyday through career growth, educational support, flexibility and a leadership team that takes the time to listen.
Kit Lai, Director of Information (16 years)
St. Paul’s Senior Services
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? I started at St. Paul’s after I graduated from UCSD. I enjoy working with the staff to support young kids and older adults. Our jobs make such as impact with the older adult population. I had the chance to support an elementary school while in school and appreciate that St. Paul’s has a great program.
What do you love most about your job? I love the mission of St. Paul’s to support low-income seniors through the PACE program. They are able to help frail older adults to have a much-improved health and quality of life. It’s very rewarding to see the dramatic change.
Gloria Garcia, Healthcare Administrator (15 years)
Covenant Living at Mount Miguel
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? So many beautiful reasons – my love for seniors and serving their needs.
What do you love most about your job? Being available for our residents. Assisting our staff and working with my supervisors.
Do Santo Pacherre-Born, Vice President of Health and Social Services (3.5 years), Serving Seniors
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? My passion and devoted enthusiasm to serve older adults in need. What do you love most about your job? I enjoy getting older adults access to our meal services and teaching them about the whole spectrum of assistance we’re able to provide.
Brittany Gandomani, HR Director (2 years)
St. Paul’s Senior Services
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? When I moved to San Diego, I was hoping to find a job in HR that supported a company doing impactful work in the community. I have always enjoyed seniors and it has been a dream come true to find St Paul’s and be a part of their mission serving older adults.
What do you love most about your job? Personal interactions. I love meeting all the new hires every week. It’s their job to make the residents and participants happy and successful, and it’s my job to make them successful and happy especially in their first few weeks.
Aylin Escamilla, Center Director (7 years)
St Paul’s PACE Akaloa
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? My passion to help others, and my love for the seniors in my family that needed the extra care and love and dedication.
What do you love most about your job? I love to see the smile in all our participants. It has made me realize why I chose to be in this field in the first place. The rest are just perks.
Edgar Infante, Driver (10 years)
St. Paul’s Plaza
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? I started in maintenance, and I enjoyed engaging with the seniors and helping them. They are so appreciative! They love to chat with me.
What do you love most about your job? I live by the St. Paul’s promise if I can’t help our resident directly, I enjoy finding someone to help them. It gives me great pride to make them happy.
Eddie Groner, Dining Room Manager (15 years)
Casa de Manana
What brought you to being in your career in serving and supporting older adults? I came to this career by chance. While I was in between jobs, a friend recommended working in senior food service. It was meant to be part-time for a short time. After a few years they paid for my education and career, and I felt dedicated to return the favor.
What do you love most about your job? What I love most are the personal interactions and having an impact on residents’ lives.
Tom Sylvander, Director of Staff Development (2 years)
Covenant Living at Mount Miguel
What brought you to begin your career in serving/supporting older adults? A series of events. In 2001, I was working at a Lexus dealership. Shortly after 9/11 I was on my lunch break when I called my younger sister, Erica. We talked about how unhappy I was with my job and how I didn’t feel as though I had a meaningful career path. She told me how rewarding her career was being a nurse. It was hard work but work you can feel good about. She said the demand for nurses in the workforce was high and there were many different types of career paths in Nursing to choose from. I was skeptical and immediately shut it down. After returning from lunch, my very next customer was a Nursing instructor, I thought this could not be a coincidence. We began talking and I reiterated the conversation I just had with my sister. She proceeded to tell me that Erica was wise and gave great advice that I should consider carefully. Three weeks later I was enrolled in school. Best advice I ever received. It is a truly rewarding career.
What do you love most about your job? I love going to work knowing I can make a difference. I pride myself on the relationships I have fostered over the years with co-workers, residents and their families. I try to relate to the staff and put myself in their situation just as I do for the residents and their loved ones. I come to work with a smile and a positive attitude every day, I feel it’s contagious and brings energy to the staff. I love the teamwork and camaraderie we have here at Mt. Miguel. It all has an impact, and it can be seen in our staff retention rate.
